Greek Festival Food   - Recipes

Dolmathes  - Stuffed grape leaves can be served cold as part of an appetizer (meze) platter or a salad plate. Or they can be served hot with avgolemeno sauce as a main or a side dish.

Watch a video on our Facebook Page showing how to roll the dolmathes.

2 lbs. lean ground beef
2 large onions, grated
½ cup minced parsley
½ cup long grain rice (washed)
2 egg whites
2 tsp. dried mint
Salt & pepper to taste
1 (2 lb.) jar grape leaves
2 quarts chicken broth

Combine all ingredients, except grape leaves and chicken broth, and mix well. Rinse, drain and separate grape leaves. Cover bottom of a 4 quart saucepan with 4-5 leaves. Prepare rolls as follows. Place one of the leaves, vein side facing up, on a plate and put a spoonful of the mixture near the stem. Make sure to remove the stem. Neatly fold the left edge and then right edge of the grape leaf and then roll all the way. Wrap up into a cigar shape (don't fold too tight as the rice will expand during cooking). Place closely together in even layers in saucepan. Add enough chicken broth to cover rolls. Place a plate (same size as the saucepan) directly over rolls to weigh down - this will prevent the rolls from opening when boiling.
When broth is boiling, lower heat and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove rolls to a serving bowl. You can make the Avgolemono sauce while the grape leaves are cooking. Serve warm with Avgolemono sauce poured over the rolls. If serving cold, drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice instead of the egg/lemon sauce.

Avgolemono Sauce (Creamy Egg & Lemon Sauce)

2-3 cups chicken broth
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
¹/³ cup lemon juice
1 Tbs. cornstarch

In a small saucepan, boil broth - or use leftover broth from cooking the dolmathes. Combine eggs, yolks, lemon juice and cornstarch in a blender. With machine running, slowly add hot chicken broth. (This can also be done by hand with a whisk). Be careful to slowly add hot liquid to the egg mixture or else the eggs will curdle). Return sauce mixture to the saucepan. Stir over low heat until the sauce thickens.